Blue Ridge Mountain Kind of Day

We had been told by a good friend that the Blue Ridge Parkway was an incredibly beautiful drive, but we wanted to get to Charlotte in time to see Jed's older brother Jonas, one of my other God-sibs, so we thought we were going to have to skip the experience. Then it turned out that Jonas' theater group wasn't going to perform in Charlotte until 7 pm so we decided to hang out around Asheville on Wednesday until after lunch. I had been interested in going to the Folk Arts Center and it just happened to be about 15 minutes from Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a beautiful road! I'm so glad we got to drive on it just a little bit. I could easily see spending a day or two driving farther down the parkway all the way to Boone. As it was we had a really great time taking the kids to the Folk Arts Center and then walking a short trail in the woods next to the center.

Running up the hill on the way to the Folk Art Center

The center had beautiful rock walls all around it.

The boys were mesmerized by the wood turner. They couldn't stop watching him.

All the traditional Appalachian arts and crafts were represented. I was especially excited about the quilts.

The upstairs gallery included newer works like this sculpture with ravens. Izzy loves ravens.

The little trail near the center had signs that explained all about the different trees in the area.

The woods of the Smokey Mountains are truly beautiful.

I kept seeing mushrooms I've never seen before.

After the Folk Center we went back into Asheville for lunch. We ended up eating at a really great restaurant called Tupelo Honey Cafe, it's what they are calling "new southern" cuisine. In this case it's cuisine that's also ex-dead head cuisine, so the vegetables are all fresh and the meat is organic and local. I had greens, beets, and cauliflower all wonderfully and interestingly cooked without being over cooked, and the biscuits were perfect. Asheville turned out to be a very nice town, there's a lot of culture, music and interesting people there. I think it's likely a better place to live than to visit.

Walking downtown towards the restaurant, we had to avoid the stinky ginko berries on the ground.

Climbing public art.

We had to wait for our table so we went to the little park across the street.

The kids decided to become part of the parks fountain. They blend right in.